Education committee recommends confirmation of Haley Farden to Maine Maritime Academy board

Senator Joe Rafferty, chair of the Joint Standing Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs, said the committee voted to recommend the governor’s nominee, Haley Farden of Standish, to serve as the student member of the Maine Maritime Academy Board of Trustees.

The recommendation followed a public hearing in which a representative of the governor and the nominee spoke about her qualifications. Under statute and joint rules of the Legislature, the committee must hold a public hearing and then recommend confirmation or denial by majority vote of members present; the committee’s recommendation is forwarded in writing to the president of the Senate.

Joe Bushey, speaking on behalf of Governor Janet Mills, outlined Farden’s campus and professional experience and asked the committee to support her appointment. “Haley Farden of Standish is nominated as the student member of the board,” Bushey told the committee, citing her work as a student ambassador, teaching assistant, adjutant for her drill company, football team manager and incoming president of the Women on the Water Club. He also described her sea service, noting she worked as a deck cadet aboard the Maine Maritime Academy training ship State of Maine and on the tanker Overseas Long Beach.

Haley Farden addressed the committee and described her reasons for seeking the student-trustee seat. “I will graduate with a bachelor’s degree in marine transportation and operations and a third mate’s license,” she said, adding she wanted to “give back to the school that has already given me so much.” Farden told lawmakers she hopes to advocate for academic growth and improved student engagement, and noted concerns she has observed about faculty workload in the marine transportation program.

Committee members asked a few questions about her leadership and campus involvement; Farden described helping to facilitate calm conversations while working with community partners and said she hoped to ensure the board hears an “honest and informed perspective from the student body.” With no members registered to speak in opposition and no sustained questioning, the committee proceeded to a roll call vote.

The clerk recorded eight members voting in the affirmative and none in the negative; the committee’s report will be forwarded to the president of the Senate for further action. The committee’s chair congratulated Farden after the vote and the matter was concluded.

The committee record shows the required motion to recommend confirmation was made consistent with Title 3, section 157 of the Maine statutes and seconded during the session. The committee’s recommendation is advisory to the full Legislature, which will next consider the nomination per the body’s rules.